


A Word of Thanks

by weatherflonium



Category: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, F/F, GX09 Spoilers, Implied Femslash, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 18:05:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4715483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weatherflonium/pseuds/weatherflonium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maria has a talk with Tsubasa's father after the events of GX episode 9.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Word of Thanks

Kazanari Yatsuhiro sat at his desk, a large stack of papers shuffled off to one side. A small, decorated porcelain tea cup sat, steaming, next to his hand as he drummed his fingers idly against the table.

As he idly paged through the stack, a knock came at the door. “You wanted to see me?” a female voice called from outside.

“Yes; please, come in.” The door slid open, revealing a woman in her early twenties, with long, outward-stretching pinkish hair. Prior to the day's events, he had known Maria Cadenzavna Eve on a purely intellectual level; he'd known of her as an asset, rather than his daughter's friend. “I wanted-” he paused, taking a short, sharp breath, “I wanted to thank you. Sincerely. For my own sake, as well as my daughter's. I'm glad she has friends willing to stand for her, even against my foolishness.”

“I know I haven't been the best father... or really much of a brother at all.” At Maria's expression, he nodded his head, “The staff heard you talking. I... honestly, I'd hoped she would never have thought about it.” Yatsuhiro's expression was visibly angry, though it did not show through to his tone. “That girl is the only saving grace of my father's sick schemes. I'd wanted to keep her from knowing the truth, to not make things even worse; I never thought she'd put the pieces together herself. I should have told her.”

“Yes, you should.” Maria crossed her arms and glared daggers at Yatsuhiro, taking a step towards his desk. “I can't imagine what it must have been like for her. I just hope someone she trusted was there when she found out.”

Yatsuhiro sighed, shaking his head. “There you go again; you're so protective of her. Knowing what I do now, I'm sure she's strong enough to-”

Maria's glare didn't falter. “She shouldn't have needed to be.”

“And I know that now. I just wish I did then.” A silence filled the room. After a minute's pause, he continued, “I just wanted what was best for her, and after everything with our father... I thought the best I could do was get her to leave.” Yatsuhiro sighed. “The last thing I wanted for her was to be trapped by the Kazanari family.” He left anything else unspoken.

“You really should be telling _her_ all this.” Maria sighed, and her tone darkened slightly. “But I'm not really one to talk about putting on a strong face for the people who look up to you.”

“I know. And I will.” Yatsuhiro nodded once, decisively. “I worry for her. Perhaps too much.”

“Definitely too much. She's not perfect, but she can handle herself.” Maria smiled brilliantly. “Besides, I'm not the only person in Tsubasa's life. You want to thank me? Thank Hibiki, Chris, Miku... anyone from the Second Division. She's only told me parts of how they met, but enough that I know she'd not be the woman I-” Maria loudly cleared her throat, “the friend I have today without them. Tsubasa has a lot of friends; I'm just the one who came this time.”

For a fleeting moment, Yatsuhiro smiled. After a brief pause, he said “With that said, you shouldn't keep my brother waiting much longer. I'm sure we'll see each other again, in an official capacity or not.” He stood up from his desk and held out his hand, which Maria took for a short, professional handshake. After a nod from Yatsuhiro, she turned and walked toward the office door.

“Ah, one more thing,” Yatsuhiro called after her, “I understand that what Tsubasa does behind closed doors is none of my concern, but... if only to avoid future embarrassment, please be more considerate of homes with thin walls.”

Maria halted in the doorway, forcing out a startled cough, and slowly turned back towards Yatsuhiro, her face beet red. She sputtered an unintelligible attempt at a response before ducking through the doorway and down the hall outside as quickly as her feet could carry her.

Yatsuhiro took a long sip of his tea, and allowed himself a brief chuckle. “Oh, to be young...”

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this pretty quickly after GX09, and I think it's at least not-completely-awful enough to post.
> 
> Thanks to Anon for pointing out that yes, Maria calls Chris (and thus presumably Hibiki and Miku) by first names. Much of Yatsuhiro's personality is obviously headcanon, since we don't see too much of him in the show itself. I hope his portrayal here feels consistent to you, since I'm always bad at judging my own stuff and >tfw no Symphogear betafriends.
> 
> And yes, I'm aware there's a pretty key name missing from Maria's list; that was a deliberate choice. In-fic because Maria's talking about what brought Tsubasa out of her post-Kanade sword-angst funk, and out-of-fic because I don't really think I could do the elephant in Tsubasa's shipping container justice without making things a lot longer and more involved.
> 
> Which incidentally is what's delayed the other Tsubasa/Maria fic I've mentioned. Please no bully.


End file.
